Beastie Boys sign “multidimensional” memoir deal

The surviving members of the Beastie Boys have signed a “multidimensional” memoir deal. Adam Yauch of Beastie Boys, left, died last year at the age of 47. Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images.

We wouldn’t expect a straight-up, standard book deal for a Beastie Boys memoir, and good thing too. Turns out the band is planning a book filled with an array of voices, images and pop-culture references.

The New York Times reports Michael Diamond, aka Mike D, and Adam Horovitz, Ad-Rock, the surviving members of the hip-hop group, have signed a deal with Spiegel & Grau from Random House Publishing Group, for a book “celebrating their history and aesthetic.”

Julie Grau, Spiegel & Grau publisher, said fans should expect a lot more than a run-of-the-mill publication from the Boys.

She told the Times the group is, “interested in challenging the form and making the book a multidimensional experience. There is a kaleidoscopic frame of reference, and it asks a reader to keep up.”

With hip-hop journalist Sacha Jenkins on board as editor, the book will follow an oral-history format but with what the Times calls “a strong visual component.”

“The first words out of Mike’s mouth were, ‘I don’t want to do a straight memoir,'” the group’s agent, Luke Janklow, told the Times.

The group’s third member, Adam Yauch or MCA, died last May after battling cancer.

Follow our news and updates on Twitter, our whereabouts on Foursquare and our relationship status on Facebook. Or send us a telegram.

Kelsey Fowler is currently studying nothing music-related at Ithaca College. Help keep her in the loop on Twitter.